Adjustable threshold



Nov. 4, 1969 B, JQ'HANSEN 3,475,866

ADJUSTABLE THHESHOLD Filed Feb. 28, 1968 urn/wrm2 BERGITON JoHANsaN Bvgwc.

United States Patent O ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE An adjustable threshold for doors having a pivotal member for raising and lowering a flexible sealing means against the bottom surface of a closed door in sealing the interior of the home from wind, rain and the like.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention The present invention relates to door sills and, more particularly, to metallic thresholds having movable flexible sealing means for closing the space between the threshold and the door bottom.

The prior art Heretofore, it has been conventional practice to provide thresholds with flexible sealing means as evidenced in U.S. Patent No. 2,718,677, No. 2,794,220, and No. 2,880,476; also thresholds with adjustable flexible sealing means,ras evidenced in U.S. Patent No. 2,839,796 and No. 2,947,043.

' lSUMMARY OF INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the invention is to provide an improved adjustable threshold in which the flexiblt sealing means is more readily and accurately positioned against the door bottom to provide a tight seal.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved adjustable threshold which is simple in construction and which is adapted for ready replacement of the flexible sealing'means.

Another object-of the invention is to provide an improved adjustable threshold which can be quickly installed by an ordinary workman.

A further object of the invention is to accomplish the foregoing objects in a practical and economical manner.

Other and further objects will be obvious upon an understanding of the illustrative embodiment about to be described, or will be indicated in the appended claims and various advantages not referred to herein will occur to one skilled in the art upon employment of the invention in practice.

In accordance with the present invention the foregoing objects are generally accomplished by providing a threshold which comprises a metallic base member, a metallic pivotal member overlying the base member and a flexible sealing element carried by the pivotal member in which the elevation of the sealing element is governed by adjustment of the pivotal member with respect to the base member.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING A preferred embodiment of the invention has been chosen -for purposes of illustration and description and is shown in the accompanying drawing, forming a part of the specification, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a threshold assembly in accordance with the present invention showing the sealing element in its lowermost position.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of a base member of the threshold assembly of FIG. 1.

3,475,866 Patented Nov. 4, 1969 FIG. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of the threshold assembly of FIG. 1 showing the sealing element in a raised position.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken along the line 4 4 of FIG. 1 showing the means for securing the pivotal member to the base member in the lowermost position.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken along the line 55 on FIG. 3 showing the means for securing the pivotal member to the base member in a raised position.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawing, there is shown a threshold assembly 10 having an elongated metallic base member 11 in which is pivotally mounted a metallic member 12 carrying a flexible sealing element 13. The base member 11 comprises, as seen more clearly in FIG. 2, a .bottom wall 14 having upstanding sides 15 and 16 forming a well or recess 18 therebetween, a short, horizontal flange 19 extending to the right of side 16, a sweeping arcuate flange 21 extending to the left of side 15, and depending legs 23 and 24. The bottom ends of flange 21 and of legs 23, 24 serve as floor engaging supports for the threshold assembly 10. The arcuate flange 21 adjacent side 15 has formed thereon a depending bulbous element 26 with arcuate walls 27, 28 at the upper surface thereof for providing a recess 29 for the pivotal member 12. The right side 16 is provided with a plurality of spaced vertical slots 31 and the bottom wall 14 is also provided with a plurality of spaced openings 32, the purposes of which will appear hereinafter.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 3, the pivotal member 12 comprises a body element 33 having at its bottom right side a recess 34 for reception of the upper portion of upstanding side 16 and a depending arcuate skirt 35 for embracing engagement with side 16, at its bottom left side a recess 36 for reception of upstanding side 15 and a depending tongue-like element 37 for pivotal movement in the recess 29 of the :base member 11. The upper surface of body clement 33 is provided with a centrally disposed rectangular recess 38 which is flanked by bulb shaped recesses 39, 40 for slidable reception therein of three legs 41, 42 and 43, respectively, depending from flexible sealing element 13, the shapes of legs 42 and 43 conforming to those of recesses 39 and 40, respectively, and snugly fitted therein, and the leg 41 being rectangular in section with its bottom edge resting on the floor of recess 38 and otherwise loosely disposed therein.

As seen in FIG. 4, the skirt 35 is movably connected to the side 16 by means of fiat headed screws 44 disposed in countersunk openings 46 in skirt 35, the stem of each screw 44 passing through the slot 31 in side 16 and being threaded to a nut 47, which is elongated at one side to prevent rotation as the screw 44 is turned.

It is to be noted that only a portion of the threshold assembly is shown on the drawing. It is readily understood that the length of the threshold is dependent upon the width of the sill and door with which it is to =be associated.

In operation, the threshold parts are sawed or cut to the required length and the base member 11 is first secured to the floor (not shown) by screws (not shown) passing through openings 32 in the bottom Wall 14. The legs 41, 42 and 43 of the flexible sealing element 13 are respectively slid sideways into the associated recesses 38, 39 and 40 of the pivotal member 12 until properly positioned, after which the pivotal member 12 is then placed in the base member 11 with tongue 37 loosely disposed in recess 29. The screws 44 at this moment are connected to their respective nuts 47 but in an untightened condition. The threshold assembly 10' is now in position and the next step is to assure a predetermined contact surface between the crown of the sealing element 13 and the bottom edge of the door (not shown). Accordingly, the door is closed and -by means of a suitable tool, such as a screwdriver, inserted between the lower edge of skirt 35 and upper surface of ange 19, the skirt 35 is raised at various points along the longitudinal edge thereof, at the same time turning the screws 44 with another screwdriver to secure the pivotal element 12 in the raised position. For this purpose there is desirable some clearance between the tongue 37 and recess 29 in order to compensate for different elevations required for the sealing element 13 from one end of the pivotal member 12 to the other end. In most instances the threshold assembly, when installed, will have the skirt 35 in the position shown in FIG. 5. In an actual installation the distance between the crown of the sealing element 13 and oor was about 1%, while in its lowermost position the crown elevation was 1%", as indicated in FIGS. 3 land 1.

It is evident that replacement of the sealing element 13 is easily accomplished by loosening the screws 44 and removing the pivotal member from the base member 11, after which the worn sealing element 13 is pulled out of the recesses 38, 39 and 40, a new sealing element 13 slid in, and the pivotal member 12 reinstalled in the manner hereinbefore described.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that the present invention provides an improved threshold assembly for sealing the interior of buildings from the elements, particularly by the use of a readily movable, pivotal member 12 for adjusting the position of the sealing element 13 into optimal engagement with the bottom of a door. It is evident that the pivotal member 12 functions as a lever to enable the installer to quickly position the sealing element in the desired position.

What is claimed is:

1. A threshold comprising an elongate base member adapted to be secured to a sill of a doorway, an elongate pivotal member overlying and loosely pivoted to said base member, ange means at one side of said base member including a pair of spaced elongate walls forming an elongate, arcuate recess therein, said pivotal member including an elongate tongue having a thickness less than the width of said recess whereby the tongue is freely articulated in said recess and whereby said tongue can be readily inserted into and removed from said recess by movement through an elongate, frontal opening of said recess, a exible elongate sealing element having a crown and being movable with said pivotal member to provide a seal with the bottom of a door as the pivotal 4 Y. member is adjusted to an upward position, and means for rigidly securing said pivotal member in said adjusted position.

2. A threshold in accordance with claim 1, wherein said base member includes an upstanding side opposite said recess, an'd said pivotal memberincludes a skirt opposite said tongue for overlapping said upstandingV side.

3. A threshold comprising an elongate base member adapted to be secured to a sill of a doorway, an elongate pivotal member overlying said base member, aexible elongate sealing element carried by said pivotal member, said sealing element having a crown and being movable with said pivotal member to provide a seal with the bottom of a door as the pivotal member is adjusted to au upward position, and means for securing said pivotal member in said adjusted position, said base member including a recess and an upstanding side opposite said recess, said pivotal memberincluding a depending tongue freely articulated in said recess and a skirt opposite said tongue for overlapping said upstanding side, said upstanding side having a plurality of spaced vertical slots therein, said skirt having a plurality of spaced openings in registration with said slots, and said securing means including threaded screws passing through said registered openings and slots with nuts at the free ends of said screws.

4. A threshold in accordance with claim 3, wherein said nuts are elongated and said upstanding upright and skirt are slightly arcuate.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 386,084 7/ 1888 Pratt et al. 49-468 435,658 9/ 1890 Brennaman 49-469 600,301 3/ 1898 Barger 49-469 2,188,049 1/1940 Kammerer 49-468 X 2,853,749 9/1958 West 49-468 2,947,043 8/ 1960 Klemma 49-469 X 3,114,180 12/ 1963 Riedl 49-499 X FOREIGN PATENTS 97,885 S/ 1961 Netherlands.

DAVID I. WILLIAMOWSKY, Primary Examiner PHILIP C. KANNAN, Assistant Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 49--489 

